Tarkhuna (drink)

Tarkhuna (Georgian: ტარხუნა, Georgian pronunciation: [tʼaɾχuna]) or Tarkhun (Russian: тархун) is a Georgian^[1] carbonated soft drink that is flavored with tarragon or woodruff. It was first created in the Kutais Governorate of the Russian Empire in 1887, by a young Georgian pharmacist named Mitrofan Lagidze in the city of Kutaisi. Mitrofan Lagidze began to add odorous chukhpuch containing extract of Caucasian tarragon to sparkling water with natural syrups of his own production. Before the First World War, Lagidze repeatedly received gold medals at international exhibitions for his water. In 1927, the Soviet authorities built a plant for the production of "Lagidze water" in Tbilisi, and Lagidze himself was appointed director.